“I know you’re worried but don’t be. You’re safe here. I know every time we get an evacuation order or an alert the phone rings,” said Cariboo Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett at a public meeting in Interlakes on Aug. 1.
“Things are not getting much better and the weather is not in our favour. So everybody should be on alert and if you see a little puff phone right away. Even if it’s on gravel, phone right away, because everywhere we go it’s tinder dry. I have spent two days with ranchers. I saw exactly how tinder dry it is, how dry the ranges are and how quickly that fire moves.”
She assured the audience there would be Emergency Social Services set up where people are directed to should there be an evacuation order.
The Elephant Hill fire was 15 km from Green Lake, 10 km from 70 Mile House and in close proximity to Clinton at that time, according to Terry Murphy, an Information Officer for the BC Wildfire Service. He said there might be a lot of smoke resulting from controlled burns in the Chasm, Loon Lake and outside the townsite of Clinton, adding that the aggressive fire behaviour has been occurring on the west and northeast flank.
Murphy said they were building guards and conducting back burns on the northeast flank of the corner but wouldn’t know how that went until the next day.
People were reminded that ATVs, motorbikes etc. are not allowed in the back country. Barnett also asked people to get out of the way on lakes if they see helicopters or water bombers.
If an order comes through, attendees were told to follow directions by emergency personnel and use major routes.
Barnett said that everyone should personally be on alert.
“Every single one of us should be on alert. Somebody shouldn’t have to tell us. I think if we all have a mindset that this is serious, that we need to be ready to go, we’ll be ready to go… I think we should all say to each other, no matter what they tell us, what the map says, until this is over, we are all on alert.”
Murphy confirmed the Jim Lake fire was still being held and continuing mop up.